Janey
by These Lonely Skies
Summary: Janey Franklin never counted on being sent to the same house as four other children. Fast becoming friends with Lucy, Janey is a dreamer who is soon to discover not all fantasy worlds are imaginary...
1. Chapter 1

**((Hello all! Thought I'd try my hand at a different type of plot. All the other stories I've read like this so far have been cliché and generally bumbling, with a few exceptions, so here goes. Feel free to murder me if I write crap.))**

Janey Anne Franklin was a small, quiet girl who was more likely to daydream than pay attention in a conversation. Her head was always filled with fantasy worlds, heroes and fantastical beasts like griffins and centaurs and other such mythological creatures. She was constantly dreaming of adventuring, although she had done none herself.

She had lived in London all of her life, until yesterday. Now she was to live with her aunt, who was a housekeeper in the country. From what Janey could remember of the woman, she was strict and stiff and no fun whatsoever. Needless to say, Janey was not looking forward to her stay. Her mother had refused to even hear of her staying at home, though. Mrs. Franklin was as delicate-looking as her daughter, but was in truth a woman of remarkable strength, both emotionally and physically. She was volunteering at a hospital. Janey's father was fighting in the war.

It was no wonder that Janey was always dreaming. Her made-up worlds were much more exciting and fun than the one she lived in. And she was never lonely in the other worlds. Sometimes she was a princess, sometimes a noble lady, but often she was a commoner who travelled the lands in search of adventure.

When she hauled her solitary suitcase off of the train at the correct stop, there were four children already there. Janey stopped for a moment, surprised. No one had told her there were going to be other children. Perhaps they were staying elsewhere. Determined to be friendly, but too shy to do it properly, Janey nodded at them and gave a quick smile.

"Hello." the smallest one said. She was a little girl with dark hair and an earnest face. "My name is Lucy. Are you from London too?"

Janey nodded.

The taller girl tsked. "Don't bother strangers, Lucy."

"But-"

"Shush!"

"I don't mind." Janey said quietly. "I'm Janey."

"See?" Lucy said triumphantly to the girl, who Janey assumed was her sister. The little girl turned back to Janey. "This is my sister, Susan, and my brothers, Edmund and Peter."

"Pleased to meet you," the blonde boy said. The darkhaired one stared sullenly at the ground. Janey wondered if she had done something to offend him.

"Edmund isn't very friendly," Lucy confided. Edmund glowered at his sister.

Silence fell after that. It was an awkward, prickly silence, which Lucy tried to make easier by shooting Janey beaming smiles every so often. Janey wondered if she was always this friendly, or if she was simply sick of her siblings.

And so, as dreamers do, Janey drifted away to her own world inside her head.

_The griffin was a magnificent beast, she could see from being this close, although she would have known from far away that this griffin was beautiful. Usually they were ferocious and fiercely territorial, but this one owed her a boon for helping to save its cub, or fledgeling, whichever was the correct term. _

_The griffin's wings snapped out, the wind from the action snatching at Janey's long, dark hair. The girl stifled a gasp. They were gorgeous, a rich reddish brown at the top and the colour of spun gold at the bottom. Her hand trembling, she reach out to stroke them. The griffin watched her with hawk-like eyes, ready to rebuke her if she did something wrong. Her fingertips brushed against the soft, beautifully groomed down..._

"You, girl!" A prim voice snapped.

Janey jumped, feeling foolish at having been caught daydreaming. She blinked at the imposing-looking woman in the cart in front of her.

"Yes, miss?" she said meekly.

"Stop looking so gormless and pay attention! I assume you are Jane."

"It's Janey, miss."

_"Jane,"_ the woman repeated firmly. "I expect you to follow the same rules as the rest of them. Just because you are my neice, you will not get any special treatment. Now, get in the cart."

Silently, Janey picked up her suitcase and began lugging it towards the cart. Peter appeared beside her, lifting it with a sympathetic smile. Janey ducked her head and murmured her thanks.

The only available seat was beside either Edmund or Susan. Peter sat down beside Susan. Janey, seeing no other choice, sat beside Edmund, who was still in a sour mood and pretended that he was ignoring her. He wasn't very good at it. She caught him glancing at her curiously several times. But then again, everyone except Lucy and Mrs. Macready seemed to be looking at her out of the corner of their eye.

The house they arrived at was large and very grand-looking. Janey instantly felt shabby by comparison. Mrs. Macready gave them a lecture of what to do and what not to do. There were a lot of things which were forbidden, and not much which was allowed. The Professor who owned the house met them at the front door. He was an odd-looking old man with twinkly eyes. Edmund kept laughing under the pretense of blowing his nose, which made Janey feel like kicking him in the shins. The Professor seemed an old dear, and gave no sign that he had heard any of it.

"We've fallen on our feet and no mistake," said Peter later that night. The boys had snuck into the girls' room. Janey was sitting up in her bed, not sure whether she was included in this conversation or not. "This is going to be perfectly splendid. That old chap will let us do anything we like."

"I think he's an old dear," said Susan, who was clearly trying to sound grown-up.

"Oh, come off it!" said Edmund, who looked rather cross and was clearly trying to pretend not to be tired. "Don't go on talking like that."

"Like what?" said Susan. "And anyway, it's time you were in bed."

"Trying to talk like Mother," said Edmund crossly. "And who are you to say when I'm to go to bed? Go to bed yourself."

"Hadn't we all better go to bed?" said Lucy. "There's sure to be a row if we're caught talking here."

"No there won't," Peter disagreed confidently. "I tell you this is the sort f house where no one's going to mind what we do. Anyway, they won't hear us. It's about ten minutes' walk from here down to that dining room, and any amount of stairs and passageways in between."

"What's that noise?" said Lucy suddenly. Janey saw a trace of fear in her young face, and her heart went out to the girl.

"It's only a bird, silly," said Edmund.

"It's an owl," said Peter. "This is going to be a splendid place for birds. I shall go to bed now. I say, let's go and explore tomorrow. You might fine anything in a place like this. Did you see thise mountains as we came along? And the woods? There might be eagles. There might be stags. There might be hawks."

"Badgers!" said Lucy.

"Foxes!" said Edmund.

"Rabbits!" said Susan.

_Griffins, _Janey thought, though she didn't say it aloud. _The forest just might have griffins. _For she had never been in a forest before, and was hoping desperately that she would find something wonderful.

But when the next morning came there was a steady rain pouring. Janey couldn't see any of the fabulous landscape when she looked outwards.

"Of course it _would_ be raining!" said Edmund. They had just finished having breakfast with the funny old Professor, and were in a room he had set aside for them. It was long and low and had two windows looking on one direction and two in another.

"Do stop grumbling, Ed," said Susan. "Ten to one it'll clear up in an hour or so. And in the meantime, we're pretty well off. There's a wireless and lots of books."

"Not for me," said Peter, and told them of his plan to explore the house. Everyone immediately thought this was a very good idea, especially Janey. She had been dying to look around the old house. To her, it was just as good as the woods. All those rooms...

She was sorely disappointed when, instead of being richly furbished and magical, all of the rooms remained stubbornly plain and boring. They left a room with a large wardrobe, the boys complaining, Edmund in particular. She had only taken three steps down the passageway when Lucy sprinted out of the room.

"I'm back!" she cried.

They all stopped and stared at her.

"What on Earth are you talking about, Lucy?" Susan asked.

"Why," said Lucy, looking amazed. "Haven't you all been wondering where I was?"

"Oh, poor Lu!" Peter said. "Were you hiding? You'll have to hide longer than that if you want people to notice properly."

"But I was gone for hours and hours!" Lucy insisted.

"Batty," said Edmund, tapping his head. "Quite batty."

"What do you mean, Lu?" Peter asked.

"What I said! I went through the wardrobe right after breakfast and I went to a faun's house and we had tea and he was ever so nice and I've been gone all day but now I'm back."

"What _are_ you talking about?" Susan said. "We came out of that room just moments ago."

"She's just making up a story for fun," said Peter. "Aren't you, Lucy?"

"No, I'm not!" Lucy insisted, looking on the brink of tears. "It's a magic wardrobe! There's snow in it, and a whole forest!"

And so she showed them the wardrobe, pulling apart coats to reveal an ordinary wooden back.

"But it was here..." she said falteringly.

"You've had your fun, Lucy," said Peter. "Hadn't you better drop it now?"

The little girl looked at her siblings, each face showing the same mixture of pity and annoyance, and burst into tears. She ran off in the direction of the bedrooms.

Janey cleared her throat. The others looked at her.

"I may not have known Lucy for very long," she said quietly. "But I know that she's honest."

"Yes, but really," said Susan, "a world in a wardrobe? It's ridiculous."

Janey shrugged. "If you believe in logic, it is. I've always found logic rather tiring."

And then she turned and followed Lucy's path out, leaving the other three to think about whether she was joking or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**((Hello all! I got my first review for this story from Clear Blue Rain, who I recognise from some of my other earlier fics, if I'm not mistaken. Thanks! Keep reviewing for warm fuzzies!))**

Janey found Lucy lying on her bed, her small face pressed into the pillow. She felt sorry for the poor girl. You see, Janey was only a year or two older than Lucy Pevensie, but because her childhood was interrupted, she felt that had become much wiser and felt much older than she really was. She didn't boast maturity, like Susan tried to. If anything, she wanted to stay a child forever, so that she would never have to cope like her mother did.

"Lucy?" she said, sitting down beside the other girl. "I'm sorry they didn't believe you."

There was no reply apart from sobbing.

Janey stroked Lucy's back soothingly. "It'll be alright, Lucy. Would you like to tell me about it?"

"No," said Lucy, her voice muffled by the pillow. "You'll just laugh."

"Would you like to hear about one of the places I go?"

Lucy rolled over onto her side. "You go to another world too?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes. But mine are only in my head, not at all like yours. I think you're _ever_ so lucky." Janey smiled encouragingly at Lucy. "I would have been thrilled to see a wardrobe land."

"Can you tell me a story about your places?" Lucy asked in a small voice, for she was still stinging from the way the others had refused to believe her.

"Certainly. There are seven lands in my world, and our story takes place in Laraia," Janey began. She was a wonderful storyteller, when she had the courage to be. "the land of King Cosmo and his wife, the fair Queen Isa. The King and Queen had four children, two Princes and two Princesses. Their names were Leo, Jasmine, David and Lucy." Janey had swapped one of the names of the four children, and it was worth it to see Lucy smile. "It was almost Christmas, and the children hadn't bought any gifts for each other. To make matters worse, the King was coming down with a nasty bug..."

Lucy listened, awed, as Janey wove a story about the royal family of Laraia. Gradually she stopped feeling sorry for herself, and her pink face turned back to it's normal colour as she stopped crying. By the time Janey was halfway through the story, Lucy had all but forgotten why she had been crying in the first place. Now, she was laughing and gasping at the daring escapades of Princess Lucy.

"And so, Princess Lucy climbed onto the back of the mighty griffin, who would let none other near him. Together they soared through the skies and searched for the mystical mountain, and the cave which the gypsy had prophesied about. Day turned into night, but the griffin did not falter, and Princess Lucy found that she wasn't hungry nor thirsty, nor even in need of sleep. And sometime after midnight, in the witching hour, when all magic is at its utmost power, the griffin let out a cry. There, in the distance, was-"

"I say, there you are!" Peter interrupted. Both girls turned to look at him.

"Oh, _Peter!"_ Lucy cried exasperatedly, still rather angry at him from before and now annoyed that he had ruined the story. "You interrupted Janey's wonderful story!"

Peter glanced curiously at the petite girl, but Janey's shy, delicate face gave nothing away. Seeing as he had not heard her telling the tale, he could not bring himself to believe that she had spoken for more than a few moments. Why, he had only heard her speak twice since they had arrived!

"Oh, Janey, do go on!" begged Lucy.

But Janey shook her head, flushed from the sudden attention. "I shall tell you more later, when no one else is about." whispered she to the youngest Pevensie.

"Peter!" cried Susan, appearing in the doorway with a rather sullen and sulky Edmund in tow. "You know, if one finds the person they are looking for, usually they bother to tell the others of their luck."

Peter frowned. "Now, Su, I just got here. That's not quite fair."

_Like you lot are fair to each other anyway, _thought Janey privately.

* * *

Seeing as there was no break in the weather that afternoon, it was decided that they would play hide and seek. Lucy raced off immediately, and Janey padded along the hallways, trying to be silent in case she was still looking for a hiding place by the time the count was over. She came across a room with a large bed, a small wardrobe, and a large desk. It appeared that no one had been here for some time. Janey closed the door quietly behind her and tried to gauge which place would be the best to hide.

Making her decision, she went to the desk, which turned out to be a large, hollow, wooden chest. She lifted the lid and climbed inside, making sure to prop a piece of paper underneath the lid, not so much that it would be seen, but just enough to ensure it would not stick when she wanted to get out. It was, after all, foolish to trap oneself in a chest without being certain one could escape when the time came.

The chest smelt musty and sawdusty, and the only other thing in it was a lone book and an old, threadbare sheet. Janey wondered what on earth the point of having it was if it was never used. Perhaps it was a family heirloom or something... With that thought, she had best get out, in case she wrecked it in some way.

By the time Janey had returned to surrender to the seeker, she found three of the four Pevensies once again arguing. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. Peter was drawn up to his full height, and Susan was trying and failing to look grown up, and Edmund just looked sulky and foolish.

"-You've been perfectly beastly to Lu ever since she started this nonsense about the wardrobe, and now you go playing games with her about it and setting her off again. I believe you simply did it out of spite." said Peter.

"But it's all nonsense." Edmund replied, taken aback.

"It's not nonsense," said Janey, immediately wishing she hadn't as the Pevensies turned to look at her.

"What?" Susan asked, blinking.

"I said... I said, it's not nonsense." Janey murmured, blushing under the attention. She must be brave, for Lucy, who was such a sweet girl. "I believe she is telling the truth, and I think you ought to as well. Lucy seems a perfectly splendid person, not some silly ninny who spends all day in dreamland."

"What, like you?" said Edmund spitefully, not liking the way this coversation was going at all.

Janey went even redder. "I-I-I s-suppose so, yes." she mumbled, looking down at her feet as they moved her towards the door. _I'd rather be a ninny than an evil child like you, _she added silently, knowing she would never be that nasty aloud.

"Don't be such an ass, Ed," she heard Peter say before she left, and there was a yelp. She hoped that he hadn't hit Edmund hard. Even nasty little boys deserve a fair chance. Even nastier nasty boys, like Edmund Pevensie.

* * *

The next day, Janey was rounding a corner when she found herself face to belly with the Professor.

"Sorry, sir..." said Janey quietly. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"That's quite alright." said the Professor. He truly was an old dear, as Susan had stated. "Mind that Mrs. Macready doesn't find you wandering, though. She is awfully strict, isn't she?"

Janey, tongue-tied at the thought of a grown up talking to her, nodded slightly. Suddenly, she realised that she was talking to someone wise, who may be able to help. "Sir, may I ask you something?"

"You may."

She hesitated. She would sound rather foolish saying it. "Logic isn't awfully important, is it? Miracles can happen, no matter what anyone thinks?"

"Ah." the Professor gazed at her intently. "I do believe you are talking about young Lucy's world. Peter and Susan were just trying to convince themselves of logic in my office, not ten minutes ago."

"I believe her, sir." said Janey. "She has been very kind to me, and I do not think for a second that she would lie about something so wonderful. I should like to be so lucky as her, to go into Narnia..."

"So should I," said he, smiling at her, and then left, muttering something about schools.

Janey kept walking and came upon Peter and Susan discussing something. They stopped talking abruptly when they saw her. Janey gave them a small, sad smile and continued until she found a room devoid of everything but a wardrobe.

_Why, it's Lucy's room!_ thought she to herself. She opened the wardrobe and settled inside it, amongst the mothball-scented coats, and began to cry.

Because when it came right down to it, Janey was still just a little girl whose mother had sent her away to live with strangers.

She had never felt so alone.


End file.
